Apparatus for drying washed coal and other material.



CHARLES CATLETT, or TAUNToN, VIRGINIA, AND

'- ALABAMA;i

TENT oEEIoE.

APPARATUS FOR DRYING WASHED COAL AND OTHER MATERIAL.; -f

Specification otLetters Patent. i

Application led June 1, 1912. Serial No; 701,102.

To all 'zc/wm 'it may concern.'

Be it known that we, CHA'nLEs CATLETT und DAVID HANCOCK, citizens of theUnited States, residing, respectively, at Staunton and lirminglnim, inthe respective counties of Augusta and Jefferson and respective Statesof Virginia and Alabama, have in vented a new and useful Apparatus forDrying lVashcd Coal and which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in apparatus for treatingwashed coal und the like, and its object is to provide an apparatuswhereby the drying of, the coal may be expeditiously and economicallyperformed. ,v

In the preparation ,of coal for cokiug it is customary to wash the coal,bituminous coal, to remove slate and certain ash-like accumulationsfound in the coal and this washing leaves the cleaned coal wlth a largequantity of absorbed and adherent water.

It has been proposed to rid-the coal of such water which .does notreadilyllow olf spontaneously, by subjecting the coal tothe net-ion ofcentrifugal machines, but this has been found to be a costly process andso slow because of t-he smallva'mount of coal which may be handled atany one time,.that Ait is not adapted for use yon a large commercialscale.

With the present invention the. coal is washed and cleansed as usual,and is then delivered upon a moving screen which may he in the form ofan endless conveyer havingl numerous passages therethrough, and while onthe screen the wet coal is passed over a suction box in such mannerthatthe screen will coact with the box at the margins of the latter toprevent any material loss of power due to the leakage of air, and. thescreen and box are so proportioned ythat while large quantities of coalmay be readily handled, the time during which the coal is subjected toair currents produced by suction is sufficient to extract from the coalall or most of' the absorbed and surface mois'- ture, so that when llivered it is not only clean, but is sufliclently dry for the cokingoperation. A Y The invention will be besty understood 'from aconsideration of the following de- `tailed description 'taken4 inconnection with the accompanying drawmgsforming a part of thisspecification, with the further under` otherl Material, ,of

these rollers or Ito the 'coke ovens.-. Whi A will be understood thatthe chute 12 follows' being provided with' the coal is finally de-vstanding that the showing of the drawings 1s not lntended to indicateany exact promv-rn-inAncocx., or nmnmemms Patented Mar; 18,? 1913; i

portions or arrangement of parts, wherefore the invention is,not'conlined to any .strict conformityv with the showing of the 'draw--mgs, but may be otherwise embodied so' long as the salient features ofthe invention are retained., '12E i In the drawings :.-Fi ure 1 -isl amore o'r less schematic vview wit and other parts in elevation' of anapparatus for ypractising the invention. #Figl 2 is a vertical sectionthrough a conveyer belt,

parts in section Aeo suction box-and delivery ho per used in practisingthe invention, the s owing being also to an extent schematic. Fig.' 3 isa plan view ofl a portion of a conveyer belt and underlying suction boxwhich .may be em`' ployed .in connection with the invention.

Referring to 'the drawings there is shown a delivery chute 1 discharginginto a tank 2' having an overflow openinglBso that excess1 of water willflow out oft e tank. Entering the tank and rising therefrom is an ele"vatmg` conveyerA of sliitable 'construction which at the upper enddischarges into a,l

hopper' 5. The lower'end of the hopper is arranged to discharge upon` abelt 6 which may be an endlessf'belt' 'supported at the ends uponrollers' or drums 7, 8, respectively, and drumsv are mounted up'on aplatform' 9 su usually at a su cie'nt height so'that the belt 6 maydischarge 'a't on'e end into from which extendsfa chute 12 capable ofdischarging into 'a -car or other vehicle for the trarlisportationy ofthe' material treated le' not 'so shown, it

the ordinary practice'of orted by a framework 10' a' bin 11,

the usual controlling means, 'whereby the outflowfrom' the bin 11 may beregulated VVto suit circumstances.

The. belt 6' isv shown as provi'ded'l'w'ith" numerousr perforations 13,butiit will' be understood that this is largely indicative,

and the belt may beconstruc'ted in any manl' ner to provide 4numerousthrough, these passages being small ,Y to permit lumps "of co'a v from4passing therethrough, which lumps 'it passages there# lollg" a"`s1zetoo 105.

is' desired fto utilize, and are sufficiently large to prevent cloggingwithinecoalfort coal 'dust'.v Ar' rangedvin underriding' relation to thep-l per run of the belt 61s a-'box having a rather broad ledge 15 aboutits upper margins, and below this ledge the box 1s provided with laperforated cover 16, either as indicated best in Fig. 3, or in any otherway to provide large passages, larger than the passages 13, into the box14. These passages are indicated at 17. Leading from the interior of thebox 14 is a pipe 18 connected with a suction device 1.) of any approvedtype capable ol exhausting air from the box 14 in desired quantities.The box 14 may be tapered downwardly and `has communicating therewithanother pipe 2O discharging into the tank 2 at an appropriate point.

In the drawings no attempt is made to show any exact proportions, butthe parts in practice are proportioned to handle large quantities ofcoal expeditiously. The volume of coal which it is necessary to handleto make the structure operative as' a commercial proposition, is sogreat that `the speed with which the excess Water 1s reto the suctionbox,

moved is of the utmost importance. In fact, it is more important toremove ninety per cent. of the Water quickly than to remove ninety-fiveper cent. by aslower process,

wherefore th'e openings in the movable beltor 4table 6 must be of a sizein excess of a very considerable per cent. of the granular materialresting upon it, and as this. material is of commercial importance, itis returned through the pipe 2O to the settling tank for subsequentreclamation. When the coal is saturated with Water the fine particleshave little or no tendency to pass.

through the perfor-ations, but as the coal dries outby the passing ofthe excess Water the action of the suction causes a great deal'of thisline material to enter the suction box. n

When the coal is lifted by the elevator 4 out of the tank 2, it, ofcourse, carries a vgreat deal of Water 'with it, and the coal isproduced by the suction, so

.quite Wet when it is dumped into the lhopper 5. This hopper, therefore,is constructed to deliver the coal upon'. the belt 6in a Wide thinstream and as it is carried over the suction box 14 air is drawn throughthe thin body of coal, while acertain amount of the water will escape bygravity. The absorbed ,Water and such water as sticks by surfaceattraction to the coal is and also dislodged, by

rapidly evaporated, the streams of air that by properly proportioningthe` belt 6 and box 14, together with the travel of the parts as to thetime of action and presenting but a comparatively thin layer of coal atany one time by far the larger part of the carried water is removed fromthe coal and the latter reaches the bin 11 in a sensibly dry condition.In order to cause the proper movement of the belt 6 it is to beunderstood that suitable power is applied to one or both of the drums orrollers 7 in any appropriate manner which it is not deemed necessary toillustrate.

It is to be observed that the suction box 14 is so disposed withrelation to the belt 6 that not only will water gravitate from the coalthrough the belt 6 and into the suction box, but strong streams of airare drawn into the suction box through the coal, the direction of thesestreams being prevented from following any other ,course than throughthe coal by the contact of the belt about the margins of the box, sothat what little vleakage may there occur is negligible. Both Water andsuch coal dust or small particles as may find their way into the box 14will ultimately reach the pipe 20 by gravitation and pass by the pipe 20back to the tank2.

'While the invention has been described more particularly with referenceto Washed coal it may be employed in connection With Washed ore or othersimilar material.

In the particular arrangement shown the pipe 20 enters the settling tank2 below the overiow water level, .and by locating the sucti a box 14 ata suitable height no Water will be drawn fromthe tank 2 into the suctionbox` While at the same time the water within the tank 2 acts as ane'ective seal against the entrance 'of airto the suction box by Way ofthe pipe 20.

The belt or conveyer 6 may be made in any manner suitable for thepurposes of the invention and may either be a perforated structurepreferably sectional to permit its movement about the rollers or drums 78, or it may be a continuous perforated belt or band, or may be made ofWoven Wire, or in any manner in. which it is customary to make suchbelts. The word perforated, therefore, as used with reference to thebeltA 6 or the top or cover 16 of the box 14, is to be understood ascovering in its meaning any kind of openings or passages answering thepurpose.

What is claimed is 1. In an apparatus for drying Washed coal and othermaterials, a traveling belt having perforations therethrough of a sizeto be traversed by Water and small particles of the material beingtreated, means for de positing the wet material upon the belt, a suctionbox in underlying relation to the runv of the belt receiving thematerial and having a perforated top with a marginal ledge thereaboutarranged to .engage the under surface of said run'of the belt and holdthe same in spaced relationl to the perforated top of the boxin'substantially air tight re- 'lation thereto at the ledge, and meansconnected with the suction'box for the conveyance therefrom of water andtine material passing into the box through the belt.

2. An apparatus .for drying washed coal and other material vcomprising asettling tank for receiving the washed coal, an elevating convyerentering. said tank, aeho'pper arrange above the plane of said tank andin to which the. conveyer discharges,a conveyer belt in position toreceive material directed from t-he hopper and provided withperforations of a slze to be traversed by.

water and liner particles of the material, a suction box in underlyingrelation to the run of the belt receivingthe material, said box` havinga marginal ledge thereabout rising ,above the perforatedt0p to form anair seal with the perforated belt, air suction means connected with thesuction box, and a duct leading from the suctioniboxto the settling 15tank and entering the latter in position to be water sealed by water insaid tank.

In testimony, thaty we claim the foregoing as our own, we have heretoaixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

' CHARLES CATLETT.

DAVID HANCOCK.

Witnesses for Charles Catlett:

F. T. STRIBLING,

LUCY H. CA'ILETT. Witnesses for David Hancock:

HUGH M. BROWN,

W,M. A. DANEs.

